Sunday, July 15, 2018 • 1:10 p.m.
Citi Field • Flushing, N.Y.
RHP Jeremy Hellickson (3-1, 3.47) vs. RHP Corey Oswalt (0-2, 6.75)
PIX11 • WOR 710 AM • 104.3 WAXQ-FM HD 2 • ESPN 1050
The Mets look to close out the first half the season this afternoon with something that has become a rarity: a three-game winning streak. A win today will give them that plus a series win against the Nationals, which would be a nice cherry on top of a garbage two months or so. Yesterday Wheeler went deep into the game and the offense rewarded him thanks to a three-run bomb from Conforto and two hit performances from Flores, Plawecki and even Reyes (which unfortunately probably guarantees him more playing time).
Mets Lineup
- Brandon Nimmo CF
- Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
- Jose Bautista RF
- Michael Conforto LF
- Wilmer Flores 1B
- Devin Mesoraco C
- Jose Reyes 3B
- Amed Rosario SS
- Corey Oswalt P
Nationals Lineup
- Adam Eaton RF
- Trea Turner SS
- Juan Soto LF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Matt Adams 1B
- Michael Taylor CF
- Matt Wieters C
- Jeremy Hellickson P
- Wilmer Difo 2B
Corey Oswalt will take the mound for the Mets. He is 0-2 over four games and three starts with 17.1 innings of work leading to a 6.75 ERA, 5.73 FIP, 1.154 WHIP and 58 ERA+. In his last outing, he allowed 3 runs off 1 hit in 6.0 innings. What that line buries is he was perfect through five innings, walked a couple of batters, including an intentional walk to get to the pitcher and that pitcher just got a good swing of the bat hitting a double that cleared all three base runners. He really did much better than the line suggests he did his last time out. This afternoon will be his first game against the Nationals.
Jeremy Hellickson starts for the Nationals. He is 3-1 over 12 games and 57 innings with a 3.47 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.088 WHIP and 121 ERA+. His worst start by far this season happened at the beginning of July where he allowed nine runs, eight earned to the Marlins over four innings bumping his ERA from 2.62 to 3.81. In his last start he allowed no runs over five innings. His 2018 season debut was against the Mets where he allowed two runs off seven hits in 4.2 innings in Queens. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
- Bautista 12-35, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 6 BB (1.125 OPS)
- Reyes 12-33, 3 2B, HR , BB (.928 OPS)
- Cabrera 11-26, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB (1.080 OPS)
- Conforto 2-7, 2 2B, 3 BB
- Nimmo 2-7, 2 B
- Flores 1-3, 2B
Game Notes
The Mets are 6-5 in their last 11 games. New York is 14-33 in its last 47 contests. The Mets have gone 15 straight series without a series victory dating to their sweep of Arizona from May 18-20 at Citi Field.
Asdrubal Cabrera has 52 RBI, the most prior to the All-Star break in his career. Cabrera also has 17 homers, already the third-most in his career (25 in 2011 and 23 in 2016). His 17 homers are the most by a Mets second baseman prior to the All-Star break. He has 16 homers as a second baseman, tied for the second-most in the majors this year. He’s hitting .405 (15-37) with four doubles, three homers, six RBI and 11 runs scored in nine games vs. Nationals this year.
The Mets won their sixth game vs. the Nationals yesterday. New York went 6-13 during 2017 and was 7-12 vs. the Nats in 2016. The last time the Mets won the season series vs. Washington was in 2015 (11-8).
Amed Rosario is hitting .500 (8-16) over his last five games. He has a .426 OBP over his last 15 games…Has five triples this year, tied for seventh in the majors, after collecting four triples last season. Rosario has seven games with at least two extra-base hits this year. He had one such game in 2017. Rosario has three triples in his last five games and has recorded at least one extra-base hit in four of his last six starts.
Wilmer Flores is hitting .319 (15-47) in July. Has 15 RBI in his last 23 games and olds franchise record with 10 walk-off RBI. Flores is batting .303 (46-152) with 13 doubles, six home runs, 24 RBI, 16 runs scored and 11 walks in his last 47 games dating to May 4.
Let’s Go Mets!
